Leaf stemming machine



Sept. 12, 1933. Q v K 1,926,776

LEAF STEMMING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1931 INVENTOR. OTHO V. KEAN,

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept; 12, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEI Y LEAF- STEMMING. MAC HINE dthowtKeancNew aten, Conn.

- Application March 20, 1931. -Serial'No. 524,082

f 9 Claims. (eras r- 2) i i This invention relates to improvements in Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig.1; article stripping mechanism, and more 'parti'cu- Fig. 3 isa diagrammatic view of one of the larly to such mechanism especially designed. for stem pulling, elements or stem gripping belts; withdrawing the stems or, tough woody parts Fig. 41s a view similar to Fig. 1, showinglanfrom leaves such, for example, as tobacco leaves other preferred embodiment of the invention;

in preparation thereof for their use. Fig.5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of It is a general object of the invention to prothe stem pulling element of Fig. 4, and vide an improved stripping mechanism of the Fig. 6 isa side elevation of a further slight K r class mentioned which is especially effective in modification. v e g e removingthe stems and toughwoody parts from Referring to the drawing. for a'detailed descripthe leaves without undue crushing or other intiono of the illustrative embodiments of the injury to the leaves, and which will reduce to a vention hereindisclosed and first tothe embodiminimum. the amount .of such woody parts rements shown in Figs, 1, 2 and 3, the framework maining in the. stemmed leaf. of the machine ,is indicated diagrammatically 9 Another and important object' of the invention at 10, the operative elements being supported 7 is to provide in an apparatus of the class menthereby; Sincethe invention is especially adapttioned, an improved arrangement whereby the edofor stemming leaves such as tobacco leaves, it leaf stems which have become .broken in the is herein disclosed for illustrative purposes as process of stemming will be picked up again at embodied in machines for stemming tobacco and the leaf side of th'ebreak,v thus effecting a more like'leaves. Therefore, the form of the invencomplete stemming of the leaf and, reducing tionas disclosed inthe drawing will be'described' very materially the amount of tough woody stem in detail, itb'eing understood; however, that the parts remaining in the stemmed leaf. invention may be embodied in other types of Still another object of the invention is to prostripping apparatus than that. particularly vide an improved stem pulling mechanism which shown. I

will reengage a broken leaf stem at the leaf side There is aco'nve'yor which maybe of any suit of the break, so that the stripping or stemming able type, such as the belt conveyor 11 shown, operation can be effectually-completed even suitably driven and adaptedto carry or trans though the stem may havebecome completely fer the leaves L placed thereon in any. suitable severed. 1 v v manner such as, for'example; by hand. Lon.- Another ,objectis to provide, in an apparatus gitudinally aligned with .the conveyor 11 is a. a of the, class mentioned. animproved carrier or similar but longer beltconveyor 12, also driven.

transfer device fortransferring the leaves from in any suitable manner. The surface 13 of the n one stripper unit .toanother, and for engaging frame provides a guide engaging with the butt' W .or gripping the leafistem near the stripped part end L of the leaves to aid in correctly posiof the leaf during the transfer. i tioning the latter'upo'n the conveyor 11. Other objects of .the invention will be in part For the purpose of retaining the leaves iii pcpointed out in the following'detailed description sition'upon the carriers 11 and 12', an endless leaf of certain illustrative but preferred embodiments retaining belt 1a is preferably provided m'ount'edf of the invention and will be in part obvious in upon supporting idlers 15,1 and having its lower connection therewith. v i reach positioned for engagement with the upper.

The invention accordingly comprises the feareaches of the carrier belts 11 and 12. By this tures of construction,combinations of elements means the leaves are grippedan'dheld in corand arrangement of parts, which will be .eXmrectposition between the leaf retaining belt14 plified in the construction hereinafter set forth 1 and'one or another of the carrier belts- When, and the scope of the applicationo'f which will be the leaves are placed upon the carrier belt, they indicated in the claims. arefedforwardly'intofthe in'achineinthe direc- For a more complete understanding of the tion indicated by the arrows in Fig 1. nature and objects of the invention, reference .is. Positioned adjacent the forward inner edge of had to the following detailed description and to the carrier 12 "is a-stem stripping mechanism, 0 the accompanying drawing,,in which: serving to butt the leaves and including a sprocket Fig. v1 is-a horizontal sectional View; parts be,- chain 16 mounted upon suitably driven'sprockets I ing shown inv plan, disclosing somewhat diagram,- 1'7; The'reach of butting chain adjacent the carmatically a preferred embodiment' of the m-' rier 12 may be guided and held in position by vention; means. of a'rolle'r 18. V This stem butting or strip- I. ys.

vided with a series of stripping teeth 22 of any.

suitable preferred form. The ends of these strip ping teeth when positioned at thelower reach,

of the sprocket chain 21 will lie normally about in the plane of the upper surface'of the carrier belt 12. Also, a cooperating auxiliary stripping element is provided by the sprocket chain 23 having its upper reach lying substantially 11145118 plane of the upper reach of the carrier belt, 12,

being positioned opposite and in juxtaposition to the stripper teeth 22. Byrneans of, this auxiliary sprocket chain '23, the leavesbeing stemmed are held in contact with'thestripper teeth 22 as said leaves are carried forwardly by the carrier mechanism. .While there maybe as many Of these auxiliary chains 23 as desired butv one is herein disclosed, serving for both stripping units; It.

Q will be understood that the sprocket chains 21 and 23 of the stripping unitsand carrier belt 12,,

will be driven at substantiallythesame speed so that the leaves being stemmed are carried forwardly in their course throughthe machine;

It will be observed that the stripping units 19 and 2 0 are, longitudinally spaced apart a short accommodation of the stem pulling elements of distance thus providing a gap. or space between the adjacent ends of these units, This gap may vary in longitudinal dimensionas desired for the the stripping 'mechanism a s below described, It

will also be understood thatone or more addi-. tional gaps of this nature may be provided, in.

ase he' mm e of r pp nit in reas Also, it is preferable that the stripping units 19, and 20. be arranged in longitudinal alignment with each other as shown, but it will be ear. t a h m de at c n idera y o ec se. qnsi d l'ali nm The stem withdrawing or pulling mechanism as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is provided by a plurality of pairs of stem gripping belts 2 4 and 25. These belts are mounted upon suitable'supporting and driving pulleys 26 and 27 and are suitably driven. Qki to. effect travelin movement. thereof. The courses sac et th airs.of.. temi rippin belts are inclined or divergent to the course of the leaves through the strippingelements 19 and 20 as clearly shown in Fig-.11. v Also, the adjacent reaches 28 of the stem rippingand pulling belts may be guided and heldin co-operative relation by means of a, series of guides or guiding rollers 29 as shown in, Fig. 3

e, rw rd. ad n ndof, the st m. iping'andpullin eme s preferably: posie 5 tioned slightly advance of, the forward end of theforward strippingelernentll) and substantially in alignment withthe leaf stripping teeth of the latter. Thus the stems L of the leaves ;wil 1 be ripn dby tnepul ins l ment iap r xie mate y tl he methat.the ward end ofthe.

a ripper C llie n en a ement. 'Wi h'. h

stripping tee h of, h orw rd tr.ippin unit 19 V V t. l. n ersto d ha he. mi :puum

5 element 25 also includes a pair of "gripping belts arranged as just described for the element 24. The element 25, however, may as shown be shorter than element 24 or it may be as long as the latter if an additional stripping is utilized. The gripping part of the leading end of element 25 is positioned in juxtaposition to the gap or space between the stripping units 19 and 20. Also, the leading end of this belt grip is preferably positioned substantially in alignment with the course followed by the leaves through the stripping elements 19 and 20. This positioning of the leading end of the grip of the stem pulling element 25 has a particular and important function in the operationof'the stemming mechanism which will be made clearer: below.

Any suitable driving mechanism may be providedfor the stemming machine. The main driving pulley 30 may, for example, be connected to a suitable source of energy for driving the shaft 31 which has driving connection with the shaft 32f or driving. the belts. 24' and'25. 'Shaft 31 is also'connected, to driving gears 33 and driving chain 34 to drive the stripping sprocket chains 21 of-the stripping units l9and 20. Thesedriving connections are diagrammatical merely and any suitable connections may be utilized for this purpose.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention having been set forth in detail, the operation will now be clearly understood and may be summarized as follows:

Leaves having been placed upon the carrier- 11 with the butts of their" stems against the guide 13; are. transferred forwardly in the direction of the arrows passing to the carrier 12 and beneath the lower stretch of the retaining belt 14 by which they are held in position during thestembutting; operation. Thence, the. leaves" are car'riedfon wardly until the stems are entered betweenthe gripping stretches 28 of'the pulling element 24',- said stems'being prepared by the buttingoperation to be properly received'and ripped by the gripping stretches. Approximately at this mil-- 'ment the leafis carriedjnto engagement with the stripping teeth-21' at'theleading end" of the stripping unit 19. v

As the gripped end ofthe stem and the butt" end of the leaf' engagedwith the strippmg-unit are carried forwardly along their respective courses, the stem will be pulled, transversely of the strippingunit 191 due tothe divergentcotrrses of the pulling element-24*and the strippingunit. In thisinannerthe'stern will be' pulledor stripped from the web part of -theleafjwhich, duringythisperiod; is engaged by the-stripping teeth of the stripping unit 19;; The stripping; and pulling units are preferably: driven atsuchspeed that'the stem L. is kept abreast iof'fthe lea-f ,In' this manner the Web oflthe leafis' separated from-the stem, bunching up slightly against the stripping unit. as indicated at L? mFigrI'.

As stripping progresses in the mannerset forth the strippedior partiallystrippedlleaf passes from the stripping, ,unit l9. forwardly intothe' gap or space between the two adjacent stripping units;

If "the leaf is a comparativelyishort one; itmaybe thus fully stripped by the first unitror, if'itisrelatively long, it may, pass 'in' partially stripped The leaf thus; partially stripped will purpose. It is advantageous to" make tli'egap" between successive stripper units quite shortso" the first stripping unit as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 6 wherein unit is slightly offset from carrier 12 and from alignment with'stripping unit 19*, In this manner the stripped web-portionL will be caused'to pass into the stripping unit 20 at the outer face or plane thereof and will notibe gripped between the top faces of the stripping teeth '21; v

" When theleaf is severed .or :weakened' during the stripping operation of the stripping unit'l9, a' very important function is accomplished by the spaced arrangement of the successive stripping units described; If the leaf stem-breaks during the first pulling or stripping operation such breaking occurs more commonly than otherwise very close up to theadjacent surface of'the stripper chains. that the stem may be scored or cut slightly by the chain orteeth 'of'the stripping element thus weakening itand causing breakage; it may also be .due to other causes. When thus broken, the severed end of the stem will continue to move away from the leaf without effectingstripping thereof. n

However, when the leaf with the broken stem emerges into the gap between the stripping. units, the broken stub end of the stem will be picked up and gripped by the forward gripping end of the pulling unit 25 as the leaf is being carried across the gap by the carrier belt 12. In this condition, the leaf isthus advanced into the second stripping unit 20 ,andthestripping operation is continued without interruption, thus preventing a partially stripped leaf from passing with the completely stripped leaf webs. Defective or partially stripped leaves are thus avoided. Such a broken stem is' indicated at L in Fig. 1, having been picked up and gripped by the pulling unit 25 to continue the stripping of the leaf. It

will be noted that the course of the pulling-unit lies substantially in the same plane as that of the stripping units so'that a direct pull is exerted at all times upon the leaf stem.

relation with the course of the stripping units 1 19 and 20, the divergentpositioningbeing similar to that of the belts above described.

The shaft 35 is provided with a helical rib. 37, while the shaft 36 is provided with a similar helical rib 38, the directionof the helices of the two shafts" being. opposite toeach other as shown in Fig. 5. These shafts are placed side by side rotating in opposite directions'and the helical ribs cooperating with each other to provide a helical conveyor which engages with the stems L of the leaves. Also, the peripheries of the shafts may engage with the stems. :It will be under- This may be due 'to the fact stood that the construction of the stem pulling unit 25 is like-that of unit 24 except that the former' unit maybe shorter, as shown.

The forward or leadingend of the pullingunit 25 is positioned atthe gap between the strippingunits 19 and 20 =in a manner similar to the positioning of the gripping belts of thepull mg unit 25. The shafts of pulling units 24! and 25 are preferably rotated in a direction tending to pull the stems away from the-stripping units; Thus,- the frictional engagement of these rotary shafts with the stem aid in the stripping operation. The helical ribs 3'7 and 38 operate to convey the'stems along the pulling unit so as keep thestems abreast of the leaf engaged by the stripping unit. Also, it will be understood that the stems may be directly engaged by the ribs 37 and 38"which thus act like 'screwthreads toadvance the-stems. The divergent positions of the pulling units'24 and 25 will result in pulling the stems away-from the leaves to effect the stripping operation. The pulling element 25 will operate to pick up the stems after the outer ends thereof have been broken off close to the forward stripping element 19 in a manner similar to that above described. Therefore, it will be seen that this embodiment of the invention operates in substantially the same manner as that above described, and need not be set forth in detail. T Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention,-what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In an article stripping machine, in combination, a plurality of. separate serially arranged traveling stripping units and a plurality of serially arranged article pulling means for pulling the articles over said stripping units and for advancing said articles along with the travel of the units, one of said pulling means having an article gripping part positioned directly in longitudinal alignment with the course of travel of onev of said stripping units and adjacent to the latter. I

2. In an article stripping machine, in combination, aplurality of separate serially arranged traveling stripping units, adjacent units being longitudinally spaced apart and a plurality of serially arranged article pulling means for pull-. ing the articles over said stripping units and for advancing the articles along with the travel of the units, one of said article, pulling means having its leading end substantially coincident with the space between adjacent stripping units.

3. In an article stripping machine, in combination, a plurality of separate serially arranged traveling stripping units, adjacent units being longitudinally spaced apart and a plurality of serially arranged article pulling means for pulling the articles over said stripping units and for advancing the articles along' with the travel of the units, one of said article pulling means having its leading end substantially coincident with 4. In an articlestripping machine, inl'combination, a plurality of separate serially arranged.

traveling stripping units, adjacent unitsbeing longitudinally spaced apart and arranged in longitudinal alignment-with each other, and a plurality of serially arrangedarticle pulling means for pulling the articles over said stripping units and for advancing the articles along with the travel of the units, one of said article pulling means having its leading end substantially. coincident ,with the space between adjacent strip: ping units and positioned substantially in align ment with the course of travel of the stripping unit adjacent to which it is positioned. 7

5. In an article stripping machine,v in coinbi nation, a plurality of separate serially arranged traveling stripping units, adjacent units being.

longitudinally spaced apart and a spiral article conveyor having its course diverging with the course of travel of said stripping units-and having the leading article engaging part thereof positioned substantially in alignment with the course of travel of said stripping units at the space.

6. In a leaf tion, a plurality of separate serially arranged traveling stripping units, adjacent units being longitudinally spaced apart and astem, pulling device for pulling a leaf stem transversely'of the course of the stripping units and positioned for engagement with the leaf stem substantially in longitudinal alignment with the course of travel of a forward stripping unit at the space between said units. l '7. Ina leaf stemming machine, in cornbina -l stemming machine, in combination a plurality oi separate serially arranged traveling stripping units, adjacent units being longitudinally spaced apart, a stern pulling device for pulling a leaf stem transversely ofthe course ofuthe stripping units and positioned'ior engagement with the leaf stem substantially in longitudinal alignment with the courseioftravel of said stripping units at the space threbetween and a carrier for transferring the leaves over th space between said stripping units.

8. In a leaf stemmingmachine, in combination, a plurality of separateserially arranged traveling stripping units,v adjacent units being longitudinally spaced apart, a stem pulling device for pullinga leaf stem transversely of the course of the stripping units, said pulling device including a pairof traveling stem grippinglbelts diverging with the course of travel of said strip-' ping units and having the leading stem'g'ripping partthereof arranged in juxtaposition with the space between said stripping units.

9. In an article stripping machine, in combination, a plurality of separate serially arranged 1 traveling stripping units, adjacent units being longitudinally spaced apart, and a pair of coopcrating traveling article gripping belts, the course" of travel of said gripping belts diverging with the course of travel of the said stripping unit positioned adjacent thereto but positioned substantially in the same plane therewith, said belts having the leading gripping part thereof positioned substantiallyv in. alignment with the course of travel of one stripping unit at the space between said units 

